Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

"Some unforeseen circumstances have arisen, and Miss is currently unable to meet with clients. If you have time this afternoon..."

"Afternoon?" Dr. Kal'tsit raised an eyebrow slightly. "It seems it's not a physiological problem... You smell of medicine, but it's not medicine meant for you. I see, so you saw a patient with Oripathy. I've long heard that Ms. Ceylon of Siesta is quite accomplished in analyzing Oripathy. I didn't expect the opportunity to exchange ideas to come so sooner than anticipated."

"what do you mean……"

“Take us to your young lady’s hotel. I want to see the patients she is treating. Since you are here as a surgical assistant and messenger, it means the surgery has at least not failed—this was part of the discussion between Rhode Island Pharmaceuticals and your young lady. Without further ado, lead the way.”

Hei Wei raised an eyebrow, shifting her gaze to the Doctor, who hadn't said much—she was actually a little curious, curious about what the Doctor's face and real name would be like in this world without players.

“She is—” Kal’tsit noticed her gaze and was about to explain.

However, this time, her words were interrupted.

“I am a doctor, a doctor from Rhode Island Pharmaceuticals.” An unexpectedly gentle voice came from beneath the full-coverage cloak.

"If you don't mind, Miss Black, you can just call me..."

"...Andromeda."

Section Twenty-Four: Zhan Lan, Part Three

Imagine the entire multiverse as a giant chessboard. Now, that board is filled with chess pieces of various colors and shapes.

There are many kinds of chess pieces, and many kinds of rules for chess. There are many players, and each player plays according to their own will. Their goals are different, and their own winning strategies are also diverse. Some players are just there for fun, some are simply there to cause trouble, and some want to show off the chessboards they've created. But some players... play every move carefully and seriously.

Because it cannot afford to lose, because it is both a player and a piece in the game. Once the game ends, the other players disperse and begin a new round of play on another board. The game that has been completed is then completely discarded and silently fades into oblivion.

then……

On the chessboard, the most serious player pulled his piece back one square.

There are no rules on the chessboard, or rather, the rules that apply to each player. As long as the player determines that taking back a move is a normal rule and can convince the other players of this, then they can rightfully make that move.

“That’s against the rules, Pei Xi.” Another player chuckled and whispered, moving another piece to make the corresponding arrangement.

He knew what the other person was referring to, because Ming Yanwei's vision of the future was his creation.

Because future vision is about the future. Since Ming Yanwei can observe this future, it means that such an event is happening in a future timeline. For the players, the future is the past, the past is the present, parallel simulations merge, and branches are like the whole.

The future Ming Yanwei sees is, for the other players, a past that has already occurred. He wants to change it, to erase that past that was utterly disastrous for him and the power he represents—a past that could essentially lead to total annihilation. Therefore, he must pay the price.

—A huge price to pay.

However, even a great price is better than annihilation.

—Alice cannot be canonized, though she is destined to be, but not in this way, with this concept. Because she is a node, a marker, the 'thought process' of something. Her being 'change' depends not only on her own concept but also on the meticulous shaping of her destiny by her creator. And if she were to be canonized through the path of change, then her companion, Loyal, would also resound with hymns amidst the multiverse.

There are countless Alices in the multiverse, most of whom have failed, while the one who succeeded must have reached the top through the path of change.

There are countless Loyalties in the multiverse, the vast majority of whom have perished. And this sole survivor, when she connected with Alice's essence, inevitably held the ideology of decay and twilight.

Change is the process by which things develop to their final outcome.

Decline is the direction in which things develop to their end.

When they ascend to sainthood and become the embodiment of concepts in the multiverse, they can decide the 'way the multiverse will decline'.

This is inevitable, an inevitability that will inevitably come. Because this is Gaia's will. The multiverse will undergo a complete reckoning after her awakening.

It is inevitable, just as it is inevitable that the will of the gods will be fulfilled and that Gaia will be resurrected.

It is inevitable, just as the will of the original humans will be fulfilled, and humanity will inevitably become the eternal protagonist.

It is inevitable, just as the will of an external god will be fulfilled, and the entire game will inevitably become chaotic and bizarre.

It is inevitable, just as the will of the witch will be fulfilled, and all sorts of inexplicable characters will participate in this game and play a pivotal role.

However, while inevitability is inevitable, the process is not necessarily beyond question. Gaia can be resurrected, but she can also die again. Humanity can be the eternal protagonist, but it can also be eternal pain and torment. The process can be chaotic, but chaos does not necessarily preclude the birth of order. Intruders may certainly influence the overall situation, but this does not mean that they can necessarily influence the overall situation as living beings.

The reason this game is still undecided is because the players haven't reached a conclusion that would satisfy both sides. Since neither player can truly lose, even against their own kind, the best-case scenario is a draw, and more often than not, a win-win situation.

and so……

He reached out and moved a chess piece on the board one point to a position it shouldn't have been in.

The moment the other players withdrew in satisfaction, the entire multiverse trembled and reverberated.

Because at this very moment, the authority of the Human Emperor, which had always shrouded the Primordial Heaven Realm for countless ages, protecting, influencing, and dominating the entire Primordial Heaven Realm, began to waver!

This aligns with Gaia's will, since the authority of the human emperor was one of the obstacles that divided her power.

This was in accordance with the will of God, and it was beneficial to the resurrection of Gaia.

This aligns with the will of the original humans, because they never believed that anything should supersede the concept of humanity, not even the 'human emperor' chosen by humanity itself.

This aligns with the will of the Outer Gods, for this is essentially a sign of chaos.

This also applies to the witch… no, she doesn't care. She has always been indifferent. Therefore, all changes occur within her tacit approval.

Aside from them, if there are other players who haven't revealed their identities, then their will must have been satisfied by Pei Xi's move.

And with this supreme crown tilting and trembling, in this vast 'Gaia' multiverse, countless things that were previously sealed, blocked, suppressed, or buried are now facing new destinies and developments.

The Four Symbols and Four Sages, imprisoned by the Emperor's authority, have been completely freed from their cage. The four poles of the universe are no longer under human control. They silently slipped into the long darkness, their whereabouts and messages never to be discovered again.

The ancient high priests, suppressed within the Ruins of Return, opened their eyes. Their minds, previously confined to mere instincts of slaughter, began to stir. They quickly noticed a loophole appearing at the boundary of the Ruins of Return—they discovered that one of them, named 'Sehmett,' had been granted a brief period of freedom not long afterward. Normally, their thinking abilities were suppressed by authority, making it impossible for them to discover this opportunity to exploit!

The alien gods, banished, isolated, and rejected by every world influenced by script memes, suddenly find their actions no longer bound. Except for a few special worlds, their forms can freely invade any world, no longer limited to interfering through the phenomenon of erosion and gradually developing followers capable of imbuing them with a portion of their will, even through world barriers.

Everything was changing, everything was shifting. The Primordial Celestial Realm didn't remain in turmoil for long amidst this sudden chaos. They quickly divided up the vested interests left by the shift in the Human Emperor's power. Then, the avatars of the Sages began to act—leading their legions, they swept away all the turmoil caused by the shift in the Human Emperor's power. One rebellious world after another was annihilated, one unstable dimensional cluster after another was suppressed and then internally cleansed—the Sages methodically patched up all the loopholes, both planned and unplanned.

Because at least for now, everything is still under their control.

They also know that in the hidden depths of darkness, the biggest variable they can perceive is stirring.

..............................

Deep within the diverse ocean lies a hidden universe. Its outer surface is heavily protected by sophisticated concealment measures to prevent detection by the Heavenly Court. Inside, however, it is quite ordinary—just a typical, urban universe devoid of any special powers.

The Primordial Heavenly Court has always been quite lenient towards these low-magic, low-technology universes. Firstly, their numbers are vast, and secondly, even if something goes wrong, it won't cause a major incident.

Therefore, the Heavenly Court of the Primordial Heavenly Realm rarely pays attention to this place. Even now, at this time, it is the same.

In this universe, there is an inconspicuous planet with no signs of life.

Such planets are numerous in the universe; trillions can be found in any galaxy. They are very small in size and, apart from sharing similar celestial environments and structures with Earth, a planet that has always played a significant role in the multiverse, they have almost nothing special about them.

—It really doesn’t have anything particularly special about it that’s ‘eye-catching’.

And that is why, when the entire universe was instantly filled with the icy blue phoenix phantom, and when this enormous phantom collapsed to the surface of the planet in an instant, the gaze from the Primordial Heavenly Court was unable to reach this place.

Then, on the planet's surface, a young man dressed in white opened his eyes. He surveyed his surroundings, and the planet's surface autonomously reconstructed itself into the shape he desired.

Crystals grow on the ground, and dust and clouds rise in the sky. Cities, primarily composed of carbon structures, rise from the ground, powered by these crystals, allowing them to move slowly but freely across the surface.

The name of the crystal is Originium. In an instant, it was endowed with the properties that an Originium structure should possess—an energy-storing structure and the ability to corrode. Countless messages were also woven into them, making them seem as ancient as if they had gone through a long period of time.

The earth was split apart, and one after another, mobile cities with lightweight structures rose from the ground. Villages and vegetation also grew in the open areas, and native fauna were soon born, and a history of history was compiled with precision down to every cell. They naturally and smoothly joined the ecosystem of this world, and soon became puzzled by the only flaw in it.

There is no one on this planet. Not a single 'person'.

The young man in white, who was the only one staying in the hotel at the very top of some kind of mobile city, clearly had an identity that was incompatible with the human race.

It seemed to hesitate for a moment.

The next moment, its form began to distort. It transformed from male to female, from handsome and dashing to simple and impoverished, and just as a form with an appearance exactly like Luo Ye was about to be born, it suddenly stretched out its fingers and pressed them against its own head!

'Bang!'—Its head exploded into pieces, then quickly reassembled. And soon, a figure, though also female, with a graceful figure and stunning beauty, appeared at the spot where it had collapsed.

"As expected, directly replacing her is not a viable option? It was anticipated, but it still disappoints me."

The woman's voice was clear and melodious, yet it carried an air of solemnity and reverence.

She immediately tilted her head back and gave a soft shout to the air in front of her—

Where are the saints of all races?

For a fleeting moment, the entire universe ceased to function. And once this unusual phenomenon was erased and the celestial court's surveillance was blocked, hundreds, even thousands, of visitors with slender figures appeared in the city.

There were no strange phenomena, no oppressive aura, and no sound or light effects. They simply appeared there silently, and each of them possessed characteristics different from ordinary people.

Some had scales on their necks, some had horns on their heads, some were simply upright wild beasts, while others were similar in size to humans but possessed an aura of the sea surrounding them. The moment they appeared, they all bowed halfway down to the woman, respectfully greeting her—

"Your Majesty the Ice Emperor." — Their voices, though chaotic, possessed a certain order; they were mixed together, yet each possessed its own independent tone.

They are the saints of the myriad races of the primordial world, ancient species that survived numerous wars with humanity, whose mere appearance is enough to rouse the primordial heavenly court. And the individual they all worship, revered as the Ice Emperor, can only exist once in this diverse realm!

That is the third emperor of all races, apart from the two sleeping emperors of the Eastern Heaven. His status is close to or even partially equal to that of Emperor Pei Xi, and he is no less powerful in terms of combat strength. He is the pillar and banner of the myriad races of the primordial world—the Ice Emperor, the Ice Phoenix!

She nodded slightly to her ministers.

"My friends, the final moment is approaching. All sins will be cleansed, and all causes and effects will be thoroughly settled. The great era of mortals is about to end, and whether we can survive and rise again after that depends entirely on this final opportunity."

She offered no explanation, knowing that her ministers were not so foolish as to be oblivious to the situation.

And all she received was a reply.

"We are willing to die for Your Majesty and for the future of our people and descendants!"

And with this promise, countless stars fell from the sky. Each star contained a powerful life force, for each one was a transcendent being, having journeyed through countless years, step by step ascending from the mortal realm to the pinnacle of power!

They fell one after another, yet their landing on the ground caused no ripples. For each of them, in the instant of their fall, disintegrated, burning away their power and soul. And their purpose was to be reborn in new forms on this insignificant planet!

This planet was originally uninhabited; that was just recently.

And now, the inhabitants of this planet have unified with the distant trial world—with billions of forms constructed, billions of transcendent beings, almost representing the very foundation of all races, slumber here. In this instant, the two worlds, the two planets, are, in a sense, equivalent!

Without grand pronouncements or exaggerated actions, each individual is aware of their responsibilities and silently dedicates themselves.

Ice Phoenix's gaze then fell upon one of the saints.

"Bai Ze".

A sage of all races with a single horn on his head bowed slightly to her. He extended his hand, revealing an Eastern girl standing behind him. She had a pair of horns, and her quiet appearance concealed unease and a hint of madness.

If Alice were here, she would definitely recognize her at a glance as an old acquaintance she had met more than once in Gensokyo—Kamisawa Keine!

"Your Majesty, the descendant you seek, the half-demon with half our bloodline, is right here." The sage of all races gestured, leading Huiyin to the Ice Phoenix—it was using an avatar, and the Ice Phoenix itself was also using an avatar to appear here. And it was precisely because of this that the Dao Erosion phenomenon could not occur!

"This humble demon, Bai Ze Huiyin, greets Your Majesty..." The young half-demon only dared to take one step forward before gracefully kneeling down.

However, she was unable to successfully bend her knees.

"No need for formalities, young Bai Ze." Bing Feng approached her, gently placing her fingers on her shoulder. "It is we who need your help; it is we who should be the ones bowing."

She bowed slightly to Huiyin, while the other saints bent over.

There was nothing ridiculous about fate or any kind of oppression happening. Because the concept of fate here is subject to the will of the Ice Phoenix. Even so, Miss Huiyin couldn't help but feel a pang of panic. Her barely maintained composure crumbled at the slightest touch.